At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened strong at 82.67 and touched an intra-day high of 82.47 and a low of 82.72 against the greenback.
The rupee appreciated by 15 paise to close at 82.64 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday, ahead of the release of key domestic macroeconomic data.
Forex traders said the central bank’s intervention and lower commodity prices supported the local unit. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.69 against the American currency and finally settled at 82.64 (provisional) against the greenback, registering a gain of 15 paise over its previous close of 82.79.
During the trading session, the rupee touched a high of 82.63 and a low of 82.75 against the dollar. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.03 per cent to 104.70. Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures advanced 0.75 per cent to USD 83.07 per barrel.
According to Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, the Indian rupee gained along with most regional currencies ahead of the important economic data release. ”The central bank’s intervention, lower commodity prices and expectation of dollar inflows supported the local unit in Tuesday’s trade,” Parmar said.
In the near-term, spot USDINR is expected to trade between 83 to 82.50. The directional move of USDINR will depend on how the greenback performs among G-10 currencies and geopolitical updates. ”The historical seasonality of March month favours rupee bulls as it has gained in 7 out of the last 10 years, the average gains pegged at 0.54 per cent,” Parmar added.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 326.23 points or 0.55 per cent to end at 58,962.12, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 88.75 points or 0.51 per cent to 17,303.95. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Monday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,022.52 crore, according to exchange data.
